Choices
by 100FACES
Summary: Ash Ketchum is 28 years old and a famous trainer. And Sheryl, like any other 16 year old, has a huge crush on him. While she battles her way through leagues on her way to being the best, Ash is stuck trying to make a decision of huge proportions. R


It was a dream like any other, one which ended in the most regular of ways but on the most extraordinary of days. Sheryl was 16 and about to start her second year as a pokemon trainer. She was youthful looking and tiny for her age, but anyone who'd met her in battle knew she was ferocious.

She knew that despite her skill and reputation it would be a long time before she won any league or got to be really famous. But in any case Sheryl was just a girl, and like any other girl her age at the time, she had a crush on Ash Ketchum. As far as she was concerned if she never won a single league, and never saw another battle in her life, if she met Ash Ketchum, it would be worth it.

It was just a school girl crush, but it was still her very heart's desire. The thing she wanted most in the world, second only to being the best trainer, was winning his attention. However Sheryl was 16 and Ash Ketchum was 28, put simply, it would never happen. This of course never stopped her from dreaming.

When she turned 10 she'd felt giddy with excitement, the idea of becoming a trainer at that young age was tantalizing. In her mind there was nothing else in the world she'd rather do. She knew that more often than not 10 year old trainers didn't make it very far, because they weren't ready or they got homesick. Some sick people had even been known to take advantage of those young trainers. This was not to mention the lack of respect pokemon held for humans, let alone children. Nevertheless in her ten year old mind, she was ready.

Gary Oak was in his late 20s at the time and had taken up teaching pokemon studies at the local school as way of paying for his own solitary studies with his grandfather. For some reason that he could never grasp he took notice of Sheryl. He taught 9 year olds who were a year away from getting their first pokemon. Like any other teacher he felt the need to constantly remind his young students to be careful and wary on their journies, whether they became scientists or nurses, breeders or trainers.

But for some reason he'd felt particularly protective over the young Sheryl and had found time on her tenth birthday to stop her from becoming a trainer.

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Sheryl was 10 years old and half naked. Her mother had seen her run out of the house wearing a very small top and even smaller shorts, far too reminiscent of Ash Ketchum's girlfriend, Misty.

The young girl had raced down to Oak's place, eager to get the first pick of pokemon. She could only chose one starter and so she knew she'd have to choose the best. Her heart began beating a mile a minute when she saw Oak's lab, looming on top a hill in front of her. She sped up her pace a little. Many other kids would be driven there by their parents, but Sheryl didn't have such a luxury.

She wasn't the first to arrive though. Another trainer was already eagerly listening to professor Oak's speech and filling out the forms necessary to receive their first pokemon. A disgruntled Sheryl sat down in the waiting room, fuming over her bad luck.

Gary was momentarily distracted when he saw the girl looking depressed and cranky in the far corner of the waiting room. He walked over to her silently and laughed when she gave him a frown.

"Hey there, kiddo," He said and then chuckled again to himself.

"Hello mr. Gary," she muttered in response.

"Why are you looking so glum?" He asked.

"I got here second; I bet that boy got the pokemon I wanted."

Gary nodded to himself. He was never quite sure how to talk to children, even after teaching them for a couple of years. "Which one do you want?"

"I don't know, I was thinking charmander."

He flinched involuntarily. The kid was right; the boy _had _gotten the pokemon she wanted. For some reason he felt bad for the little girl. "Maybe you could get a squirtle, that was my first pokemon."

The child scoffed. "Why would I do that? Water pokemon are so common, I might as well get a caterpie as my first pokemon."

Gary sighed; he really had no idea what to say. Children were far too confusing sometimes.

"Listen kid, you're smart and I know you're going to be a great trainer someday, but I've been thinking, maybe you should study for a few more years first."

Sheryl looked at him in horror. "That's what you say to all the stupid kids!" she exclaimed, suddenly embarrassed and angry.

"No, no. Listen I'm you're teacher, not your dad, I have no reason to lie and say you're smart. If I thought you were stupid I'd say it!"

Suddenly, much to Gary's surprise, the young girl giggled. "Hey, what's this?" He asked. "I thought you were upset."

"I'm going to chose the squirtle," she muttered as the young boy left with his charmander.

He didn't understand why he had to stop her, but he did anyway. "Wait, please just listen. Okay kid?"

She was only 10 years old, but she knew that Gary was a man you had to treat with respect. She stopped in her tracks. "I don't think you should become a trainer, not yet. Stay in school a few more years, study instead. And once you're really ready I'll give you one of my pokemon, any one that you want." He stopped and paused for breath, realizing that if the girl agreed with him it wasn't going to look good on his part. "I used to be friends with Ash, back in the day… but I haven't seen him in a few years. But you remind me of him, you've got the same potential, and I don't want you to waste that talent. If you start training now you might drop out, for whatever reason. But if you wait, just a few more years for when you really know your stuff then well… I think you could be better than Ash Ketchum."

Sheryl's eyes widened. No one in Palette town would ever dare say someone could ever be better than their hero, their champion. For whatever reason, maybe it was because Gary had offered to give her one of his pokemon, she agreed to wait. At the time she thought she might only wait another year but as chance would have it one year turned to two and two years eventually turned into five.

Over time, Gary became her mentor (After convincing her mother he was only interested in tutoring her Sheryl on pokemon and had no other intentions). It had taken time for him to gain not only her mother's trust, but hers as well. But nevertheless he taught her as much as he could, told her stories of his own time as a trainer and managed to prepare her for the journey that lay ahead.

And finally, on her 15th birthday Gary gave her the pokemon she wanted most, an absol, and for memories sake, a charmander.

Now 16 Sheryl had battled her way through Kanto and gotten all of its eight badges, but hadn't managed to get past the first four battles at the pokemon league. She was disgruntled, but not discouraged. She was going to be the greatest trainer and no one, not even Ash Ketchum, could stop her.


End file.
